Two more things fixed, yay!

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Solving problems and getting things to work is my all-time favourite activity, it’s so satisfying! I have been renovating an old property and now it’s just about finished I have been adding a few things. One thing I needed was an outside light, so I decided to try a solar-powered, motion-activated light. This should charge up in sunlight, and since it should only come on when someone or something moved nearby, the charge should last long enough even though it would be mounted in a shady place (the back door faces north). I sent for a light that seemed like a good one, based on lots of positive reviews, and when we were all here my partner helped me mount it on the wall. It didn’t work of course but I assumed that was because it hadn’t charged up yet. But last week my partner and Little One came for the weekend and reported that it still did nothing, very disappointing. Then a little while ago I bought a second-hand washing machine for the same property. I managed to get it home and into position on my own, and was feeling quite smug. I connected the pipes and turned it on but although the display seemed to show the right thing, it made a funny noise and I couldn’t hear water rushing in as expected. I thought there must be some sort of shut-off valve on the water pipe, but I couldn’t see anything. I felt along it as far as I could – nothing. I took off the kickboards all around the kitchen and grovelled about underneath the cupboards; I stuck my head inside the units and peered through holes with a torch; I looked for photos of the pipework being installed; nothing. I thought perhaps I had bought a dud machine after all. Well I didn’t need it immediately so it just stayed. Then this weekend I am here again on my own. Time to investigate further! First I removed the solar light from the wall and found the instructions that had come with it. These came in the form of almost unintelligible pictures, but eventually I worked out that there is an on/off switch inside that we hadn’t discovered. Opened it up, turned the switch on and bingo – it works perfectly! Next I looked again at the washing machine. It seemed to turn on OK, but no water was getting in. I squeezed into the space at the back and disconnected the water pipe but no water came out. I looked inside the ends of the pipes in case there was something there blocking the flow – maybe some sort of cap I should have removed, I thought. When I examined the inlet pipe I could clearly see the closed valve, but when I turned the tap to ‘on’ it stayed closed – it turned out that the little plastic tap somehow didn’t engage with the actual metal valve. I removed the plastic tap and turned the valve with pliers and hey-presto, water squirted in my face ! The washing machine is now working as it should. And I have even found a spare tap in my box of plumbing odds and ends, who would have thought? Feeling very pleased with myself All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.